Wednesday: Press Together
What did the apostle advise the readers to do in view of their situation? What can we learn from Hebrews for our own benefit? Let us analyze how God helped Elijah recover from his discouragement.
Read 1 Kings 19:5-18. What did God do to restore the faith of Elijah, His servant?
Image © Rolf Jansson from GoodSalt.com
The story of God’s dealings with Elijah after Carmel is fascinating because it shows the tender care and wisdom with which God ministers to those who are under distress and who struggle to regain faith. God did several things for Elijah. First, He cared for his physical needs. He provided food and let him rest. Then, in the cave, He kindly reproved him — “What are you doing here, Elijah?” (NKJV) — and helped him gain a deeper understanding of how He works and fulfills His purposes. God was not in the wind, the earthquake, or the fire, but in a still small voice. Then, God gave Elijah a work to do and reassured him.
Read Hebrews 2:1, Hebrews 3:12-14, Hebrews 5:11-6:3, and Hebrews 10:19-25. What did Paul suggest that believers should do?
Throughout Hebrews we can find several instructions that the apostle gave the readers to help them recover their original strength and faith. One aspect that Paul emphasizes is to take care of the physical needs of their fellow believers. He suggests that they should practice hospitality and visit those in prison, which implied providing for their needs. The apostle exhorts the readers to be generous, remembering that God will not abandon them (Hebrews 13:1-6). Paul also reproved them and encouraged them. He warned them not to gradually “drift away” (Hebrews 2:1, ESV) and not to have “an evil heart of unbelief” (Hebrews 3:12), and he encouraged them to grow in their understanding of the faith (Hebrews 5:11-6:3). He also remarked about the importance of consistent attendance at church meetings (Hebrews 10:25). In summary, he suggested that they press together, encourage one another, and stir up love and good works, but he also lifted up Jesus and His ministry in the heavenly sanctuary in their behalf (Hebrews 8:1-2; Hebrews 12:1-4).
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It is interesting that while the book of Hebrews is often considered to be a work of theology, there is a thread about a sense of community running through it. It is not just what we believe that is important, but how we interact with our fellow believers. Our church has lost some of that sense of interaction because we are a world-wide church and seem to have adopted an approach that uniformity is more important than unity. Consequently, sometimes we wait for the Church hierarchy to decide on somewhat trivial issues rather than seeking a local community consensus.
The backbone of our church structure should be our community interaction. It is no secret that one of my favourite quotes is:
Add to this:
This is cutting edge Christianity; or in modern parlance, where the rubber hits the road.
And just in case you think that I am dismissive of theology; real theology has a connection with the way we interact with one another. It is not just a set of ethereal spiritual "God-talk" thoughts, but rather it is a driver that helps us show the true unselfish love of God to one another.
I live in a community where many of us are academics and quite a few of my friends are theologians. That is, they earn their living by teaching theology. But they are not all just talk about Greek, Hebrew and theological theory. If any of us are in need they are the first to help. Their theology extends out into the community. That is the sort of theology that the rest of us understand.
Hi Brother Maurice, Happy New Year to all!
It's interesting how you say that "Our church has lost some of that sense of interaction", because I was thinking the same thing last week (I'm behind on my Sabbath School due to cleaning out my house for the new year). I wrote a few notes about community interactions on my phone last week; I plan to add it to Facebook soon. Here's a few sentences from what I wrote:
How to regain our communities:
As I see many people engaged in several communities here on Facebook, it encourages me that we can regain our communities back in person as well. Here's what community looks like to me. When I think back to my childhood, I was surrounded by my family and my community (the people in my neighborhood), and how the community helped to raise me. However, nowadays, we barely know our next door neighbors, and they definitely don't play any role in assisting us in raising our children.
The Christmas season is usually a time for reminiscing for me, remembering all the good memories of my childhood and my community. I remember how when a family in our community was in need financially, the entire community would take up donations to assist them, or have a rent party to rise the money. Secretly, I think they really wanted to find a reason to have a party. Us kids were not allowed to attend the parties; but the amazing part about that too was that at least one or two parents would sit out from the party, and volunteered to keep us kids, and we had a sort of kids slumber party. That is what a strong community suppose to do.
I have many other memories and thoughts about community, but this post is too long already. I just want to say that we must find ways to regain our community interactions, especially in order to finish God's work. It's no longer "all about us", but it's about Jesus and helping our fellow man, and in doing so, we are finishing His work. I want to finish Jesus work that He left for us to do, so that He will return and take us all home. I'm looking forward to that day.
I'm praying that you all have a blessed 2022!
Readers will recognise that I have proposed many times that the principle of other-focussed, other-benefiting love is the only basis upon which true life is actually possible. Stated another way, living to give is the only way of life that ultimately works. Thus, living to give is necessity, not merely an optional extra if we are to truly live the abundant life we were created and redeemed for (John 10:10). Every facet of life and living is tied to living either in or out of harmony with this principle/constant. Consequently, understanding and embracing this concept is foundational to understanding and unpacking every other concept. This is not done separately from a relationship with God/Jesus - it is the reality of that relationship.
God eternally lives to give - it is His core nature and character (eg John 3:16; Romans 8:32). From the beginning, the Godhead has been giving life and everything needed for ongoing maintenance of life to creation and all created beings. When humanity 'fell' into self-seeking, the Godhead again gave all that was needed to intervene and make salvation possible. And the Godhead keeps living to give to us to restore us in that salvation. God lives to give so that we may be restored to live to give too. Living to give is our true purpose and reason for living - it is the very essence of true life itself.
I like how today's lesson states:
"The story of God’s dealings with Elijah after Carmel is fascinating because it shows the tender care and wisdom with which God ministers to those who are under distress and who struggle to regain faith..." - including tending to other's physical needs.
This is how God, who lives to give, responds to you when you are distressed and struggling. How will you respond to those around you today who are also distressed and struggling?
Hello Phil – “God eternally lives to give – it is His core nature and character.” I am always edified when reading your posts!
Yes, God is the CREATOR, His nature does not destroy, His nature creates. His nature created man and the marvelous, wonderful things which surround us, still giving evidence to His loving spirit of creating all things in perfect harmony.
This “Loving spirit expressed in harmony” is what our Creator seeks to draw man to live by/in. Yes, self-seeking living destroys because it is not part of the creative, life-giving Life-force - love/perfect harmony; it is the expression of the destructive force of/due to the absence of God’s Love, the basis/essence of His creative harmony.
For those who may be interested in looking further into what I have only been able to overview in my comment above, Ty Gibson discusses and unpacks the topic of the foundational and all-encompassing significance and relevance of God's 'law'* of love (living to give) in a presentation recorded only a couple of weeks ago.
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* Keep in mind that the word 'law' in this context is referring to a constant-principle - not a made up and enforced rule.
I find “living to give” easy to those with whom I have a good relationship. It is also relatively easy to give to strangers I do not know. The hardest people to “live to give” are those against whom I have strong feelings.
That is why I find the love of God so amazing. He “demonstrates his love for us by the fact that [his] Messiah died for us while we were still sinners”—still enemies. (Romans 5:8, ISV.) And he calls each of us to this high standard in the families and communities in which we live.
We are called to loving kindness and caring regardless of our feelings, disagreements, dislikes and dysfunction. (John 13:35.) This is what marks us as belonging to God. (Revelation 14:9.)
This world in which we live is a school. We have the privilege of choosing who will teach us: Christ or self.
Hi Richard
I agree with the essence of what you have outlined. And without diminishing that, if I might reflect one point for your consideration.
Is this a high standard that we are called to - or is it the reality were are invited/exhorted to embrace because it is actually the only viable reality that enables abundant life and living?
Hello Phil,
I agree with your idea. It is not a standard; it is life. The call is to let God remake us in their image (Love) because there is really no other means to live life to the full. But answering God's call is not easy.
The problem with life as it is lived on earth is that choices do not usually have immediate direct consequences—seeing the beginning from the end is not normally obvious. So self serving at the expense of others appears to be a much more rewarding and easier choice for living "abundantly" than Philippians 2:5-8.
Richard
Thanks Richard
Solomon and David would also agree with you as per Proverbs 14:12 and Psalm 73:12-19*.
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* In order to not misinterpret Psalm 73:18, it needs to be interpreted in line with Hebrew idiom of causation as allowance/release to inherent consequences of the "wicked-minded and immoral" person's free-choice to be out of harmony with the reality needed for life as per Methods of Bible Study 4.16
What I have learned from today's reading is that the LORD desires that I should be a Caring Lightbearer for Him.
Maurice, somehow you‘re right about the uniformity practiced instead of unity in the church. King Solomon gives us from his unique wisdom a taste of what it means to be unified:
Eccl.4:9-12
„Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone, when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up… and one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.“
Here again, Hebrews 5,6 and 7 mentions Melchizedek, the one and only king and priest of the Old Testament that meets Abraham's victorious deliverance of his nephew and nephews' family from the wicked kings of Sodom and Gomorrah. It is in this context that Paul tells his readers that they are "dull of hearing," and that there is much to say about this subject. Personally, I believe that King and Priest Melchizedek was and is Jesus in human form and if Jesus had been accepted by the leadership of His day, there would have been no cross for Him and He would have taken the Lord's goat place at the Day of Atonement 6 months from that time and just bled for the sins of the world in that Temple and three days later taken back His life and started His Earthly Reign then.
'Press together' - to find unity in what? Eph.4:4-6 - ”There is but one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all .. .” This is the unity of faith Christians are called to unite by – one faith and one hope – Christ Jesus’ Faith and Hope.
There ought to be no evidence of separation between the believer's faith and the life the believer lives. Christ’s Faith is a living faith, made evident through living it; it is the ‘Way of Life’ lived in Truth and Light.
1Kings19:5-18 NKJV - Reading about Elijah’s struggle, I cannot find him having lost faith or hope. What I do find, though, is weariness and fear of loosing his life; reasons to hide himself. I also see God assuring him that He is still in charge - watching over him; demonstrating that this is not done by great, destructive forces that punish or destroy the wicked, but by the gentle acknowledgement of meeting his physical needs.
God saw, respected and acknowledged the limits of Elijah’s physical strength. God giving him one final task implies that Elijah still was His vessel; he did not lack faith or hope. God's last task was to assure the continuance of His work – 1Kings19:15 – 16, acknowledging Elijah’s exasperation to see that justice was done - 1King19:17-18.
The lesson writer asks: “What did Paul suggest that believers should do?” followed by a list of suggestions of ‘good’ works. Well, Elijah faithfully engaged in the work God called him to do; still, he became afraid and discouraged by the threats against his life arising from God’s work of spiritual warfare against evil.
So, what 'should' the believer do when finding himself confronted by these forces of evil?
He ‘should’ recall/remember: "Who is the God of my Faith"?, under Who’s authority do I live my Life of Faith – therefore: Heb.12:1-2 ”… let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Paul includes some very practical instruction in his letter to the Hebrews - instructions still good for us. He doesn't just preach "unity," but he suggests practical ways to foster unity.
1. He encourages sharing the gospel message. (Focusing on the same task promotes unity.)
2. He encourages physical interaction by practicing hospitality and visiting those in prison.
3. He encourages "consistent attendance at church meetings."
I love how Ty Gibson explains the love and liberty of God's Law.
I also found it enlightening how he and David Asherick expained Gal 3:1-14 in their series on the law in Galations. In particular they point out how Christ gave himself - died for us - took upon himself the "curse of the law" so all we need to do is believe in Him and His righteousness will be credited to us like it was to Abraham.
Christ died for our sins